El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant
The location: El Rodeo Mexican Restaurant, 329 South Blount Street, Raleigh
The guests: Brian, Derick, Jenny, & Jessi
The order: Queso, Queso Chorrizo, Fajitas Texanas, and 3 orders of ACP
The review: 8/10
Let's get into it:
This is simple, no frills, traditional Mexican food. The kind of place where you know what to expect, where you feel like you have had the food hundred times before, even if it is your first time at that particular restaurant, where each bite tastes familiar, where you almost don't even need to look at a menu to order. Personally, I dig that.
El Rodeo has four locations throughout the area. This is the downtown location - which I know doesn't appeal to some people because that means fighting crazy downtown traffic, finding a place to park, walking miles from a parking deck to your destination, forgetting where you park, paying $10 for the parking deck when you thought it was $5 because there is a special event going on next door.
Or not.
We went kind of late on a Monday night, so there was no traffic downtown. We easily found a parking spot on the street directly across the street from the restaurant. (The restaurant is on a street corner with lots of on-street parking nearby, which is free after 5:00 pm and on the weekends!) It was about a 15 second walk to the front door, and able to be seen from our table inside. Ridiculously easy, and totally worth it.
But, it was pouring down raining - so we had that to deal with. Thank goodness for fast moving windshield wipers and umbrellas.
But none of this has anything to do with the restaurant - let's talk about that.
At first glace, the restaurant was a little dirty. We had to use some napkins to wipe our table off when we sat down. There was food on the floor, which looked like it could use a good mop and broom action.
The servers were all super friendly and attentive, and everything arrived quickly and hot throughout the meal.
We ordered some queso and queso chorrizo. The queso was delicious - hands down some of the best we have had. The queso chorrizo had meatballs in it - huge chucks of chorrizo throughout. The large portion of chorrizo in it made it very tasty. Also, as you will notice from the pictures, the queso chorrizo was served in a bowl instead of on a skillet. Often times, when you get the queso chorrizo and it is served on a skillet, it continues to cook on the sizzling skillet as you eat, which leads to lots of queso left burnt to the bottom, which is basically wasting queso, which is basically a sin in my book. As this was served in a bowl, you could enjoy every last bite, which none left to scrape from the bottom of a skillet.
Just for the sake of consistency in determining quality of food across all Mexican restaurants, most of us stuck to our usual order of ACP. (It is most definitely in the name of consistency and not because it is our favorite food.) The ACP had tons of chicken in it, so in my opinion, is an exceptional value. The ACP is also served up with peppers in it, so if peppers aren't your thing, keep this in mind. We all thoroughly enjoyed the ACP - probably some of the best we have had.
The fajitas texanas were served on a huge skillet, with meat almost toppling off of it. It was loaded up with steak, chicken, and shrimp. It also was served with a plate of fillings and rice and beans and tortillas. If you are a fan of fajitas and a fan of meat, this is for you.
With a quiet restaurant and a table by the window, we were able to sit and chat for a long while. Restaurants that make conversation and fellowship easy are always a bonus in my book!
All in all, a great restaurant. We will most definitely be back - and we will also check out the other locations! This may even join our ranks as a top pick! :)
Check out our entrees:
El Rodeo has four locations throughout the area. This is the downtown location - which I know doesn't appeal to some people because that means fighting crazy downtown traffic, finding a place to park, walking miles from a parking deck to your destination, forgetting where you park, paying $10 for the parking deck when you thought it was $5 because there is a special event going on next door.
Or not.
We went kind of late on a Monday night, so there was no traffic downtown. We easily found a parking spot on the street directly across the street from the restaurant. (The restaurant is on a street corner with lots of on-street parking nearby, which is free after 5:00 pm and on the weekends!) It was about a 15 second walk to the front door, and able to be seen from our table inside. Ridiculously easy, and totally worth it.
But, it was pouring down raining - so we had that to deal with. Thank goodness for fast moving windshield wipers and umbrellas.
But none of this has anything to do with the restaurant - let's talk about that.
At first glace, the restaurant was a little dirty. We had to use some napkins to wipe our table off when we sat down. There was food on the floor, which looked like it could use a good mop and broom action.
The servers were all super friendly and attentive, and everything arrived quickly and hot throughout the meal.
We ordered some queso and queso chorrizo. The queso was delicious - hands down some of the best we have had. The queso chorrizo had meatballs in it - huge chucks of chorrizo throughout. The large portion of chorrizo in it made it very tasty. Also, as you will notice from the pictures, the queso chorrizo was served in a bowl instead of on a skillet. Often times, when you get the queso chorrizo and it is served on a skillet, it continues to cook on the sizzling skillet as you eat, which leads to lots of queso left burnt to the bottom, which is basically wasting queso, which is basically a sin in my book. As this was served in a bowl, you could enjoy every last bite, which none left to scrape from the bottom of a skillet.Just for the sake of consistency in determining quality of food across all Mexican restaurants, most of us stuck to our usual order of ACP. (It is most definitely in the name of consistency and not because it is our favorite food.) The ACP had tons of chicken in it, so in my opinion, is an exceptional value. The ACP is also served up with peppers in it, so if peppers aren't your thing, keep this in mind. We all thoroughly enjoyed the ACP - probably some of the best we have had.
The fajitas texanas were served on a huge skillet, with meat almost toppling off of it. It was loaded up with steak, chicken, and shrimp. It also was served with a plate of fillings and rice and beans and tortillas. If you are a fan of fajitas and a fan of meat, this is for you.
With a quiet restaurant and a table by the window, we were able to sit and chat for a long while. Restaurants that make conversation and fellowship easy are always a bonus in my book!
All in all, a great restaurant. We will most definitely be back - and we will also check out the other locations! This may even join our ranks as a top pick! :)
Check out our entrees:
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| ACP |
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| Fajitas Texanas |
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| Fajitas Texanas |
 |
| Fajitas Texanas |
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